As all Torontonians know we live in a multicultural city,
perhaps the most multicultural city on the entire planet. There are people from
all sorts of diverse backgrounds living in this city and calling it home and no
matter where you are from you can still live and work in Toronto and celebrate
your cultural background with ease and freedom. It really is a great thing when
you think about it and certainly one of the leading staples of this great city.
I grew-up in a Christian raised family and I imagine the vast majority of
Torontonians did too. I went to church as a kid but never really thought much
of it. It was just something I had to do on Sunday morning. My grandfather took
church quite seriously but for the rest of the family as time passed going to
church on Sundays just didn’t seem to be all that much of a priority. Once
again I think I am in the same boat as many other Torontonians when I say that.
As I have gotten older religion has not played a greater part in my life at
all. I really don’t think about it from a belief standpoint but as of late I
have thought about it from a knowledge standpoint. So, I decided to do
something I have never done before. I decided to read the bible, both old and New
Testament cover to cover and develop my opinion on Christianity, faith, and
organized religion as a whole.
I own a
copy of the bible in fact I own two copies. One I obtained recently. It is in
great condition and has a nice blue cover with gold covered writing on it. It
is the King James Edition of the Holy Bible. It is a nice and easy to carry
handheld size that would fit in any knapsack or purse, certainly an excellent
choice for any first time reader of the bible. The second bible I had has been
in possession from my early youth. It is a large hardcover bible and on the
cover it features Jesus Christ speaking to a group of children. This bible
certainly would not qualify as something that I could easily carry about but I
was going to choose this bible to read instead, the simple reason being that it
was a bible for children and featured pictures in it. Now I can certainly
understand why reading this you might begin to chuckle and perhaps consider
that I have lost my credibility when I say that I have read the bible only to
find out I have read a children’s version with pictures in it but don’t be so
quick to judge. “Let he who is without
sin cast the first stone.”- John 8:7. I assure you “The Bible for Children” published in 1983 by Octopus Books Limited
in London, UK and foreword by His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury is one of
the most graphic children’s books that any reader will ever come across. The
illustrations alone certainly hammer the point across to any reader.
Now when I
told some family and friends I did indeed get some laughs but after returning
from a trip to Italy I feel more vindicated. While travelling to the Tuscan
region the tour guide informed us that after the fall of the Roman Empire the
world entered the dark and middle ages. It was through the birth of the
renaissance that culture began to pick-up and during those times one of the
chief ways of communicating to people was through art and illustration. The
amount of people who could read and write in the world was a very small
percentage so art and illustration were relied upon a great deal for getting
messages across especially the messages and teachings of the church and
Christianity. So as it turns out reading a bible that features pictures is not
such a bad idea after all. The text in the book was certainly not that standard
bible verse that most would expect and I was relieved by that because I find
that style of writing to be awfully difficult to read. Fortunately the
children’s copy of the bible was written in a more basic and simplistic form
that was easier to understand and flowed much better. It told the entire of
story “In the beginning” up until the
end of the New Testament featuring the journeys of Paul. I have to admit I was
rather excited to get started and just as I hoped I was not disappointed.
The
stories are basically summed up as opposed to going into any sort of advanced
detail and that is fine by me. That was really the whole purpose of me reading
the bible in the first place. I simply wanted to know what it was all about and
the main points. To be perfectly honest I was not all that interested in the
small details. I have been criticized my entire life for not being detail
oriented but that is fine because I have always been a big picture kind of guy
anyway. This book certainly delivered in that regard as the pictures were big
and so was the font so reading it was often an enjoyable breeze. I really
enjoyed the stories and I know this may sound silly but it was like reading
Game of Thrones only it featured God and his son Jesus Christ. There were a few
things I had noticed especially with the Old Testament stories. Before reading
the bible I had read a book on Greek Mythology and the Gods and Goddess of
Olympia. As I read the Old Testament section I began to notice that many of the
stories were basically direct rip offs of the Greek Mythology stories which
pre-date the bible. Stories like the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Ark were eerily
similar to stories about the Greeks. I also noticed the main theme of the Old
Testament was basically about obedience and loyalty to God. Above all else
listen to exactly what God says and do exactly as he says without question.
Failure to do so can end up being fatal. Just ask Lot’s wife as she decides to
turn around and look back at Sodom and Gomorrah against God’s orders and is
turned into a pillar of salt. A bit harsh but the message was clear,
old-testament God was one tough taskmaster who was not be trifled with. As I
continued to read I clearly noticed that it did not matter the level of
illogical behaviour or even cruelty as long as God said it then it had to be
done and it was the right decision to make.
Fortunately
the New Testament which certainly featured its fair share of the harsh biblical
times was considerably sunnier and up beat than the previous. While God was the
star of the show in the Old Testament his son Jesus Christ was the main
attraction in the New Testament or as I like to call it “The Bible Part Two”. People still lived in great fear of upsetting
God and not following through on his requests and orders laid out by Moses on
those tablets back on Mount Sinai (I am talking about the ten commandments if
you didn’t know already) but fortunately the people had an option in case they
messed up and wanted forgiveness instead of God’s wrath. That option was God’s
son Jesus Christ. The message was clear from Jesus. If you made a mistake fine,
apologize and repent. Be genuinely sorry for the mistake you have made, make
amends and God will forgive you and welcome you in the kingdom of Heaven. It is
very difficult to have any hate or even dislike for Jesus. He truly was a
stand-up genuine human being that was selfless and only desired to help others
and spread the good word of his father, God. Unfortunately not everyone was
convinced that Jesus was the genuine article and truly the son of God. There
were conspirators and we all know how that story ends.
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